Henjin Quilones and Galaria, daughter of King Fingolë the Golden, walked a little away from the campsite of the others. It had been a long day for everyone: Henjin and his brother, Bu'kanjin, along with his companions, had endured a crash landing and an unexpected transformation; Galaria had ridden far on wolfback to reach the impact site, and then suffered the loss of one of her elf warriors when she was shot by Bu'kanjin. They all needed rest, badly, but first there were some questions that needed to be asked, and answers that needed to be heard.

Henjin was the first to speak, as they reached the shores of a small lake. "Princess Galaria," he began.

"Just Galaria, please," interjected the elf.

"Galaria, then," continued the man. "Can you tell me more about the druids of your world? I read some of the inscriptions on the stones back at Stangraf, and they told me some things, but there are other things I would like to know."

"Well, to begin, the druids left many, many years ago, after their race began to die out, and they left behind a powerful magic spell, hidden, never found, somewhere to the east of here among the islands. Then...they just vanished...turned to dust, the old stories say. Whether that is true, I do not know, since I was born here in Hesperia many centuries after the elves moved west, and even my father has no personal knowledge of the druids. Why do you ask, Henjin?"

"Curiosity, I guess. Where I came from--and the memories get fainter every moment, so that I am not sure where that was--there was an ancient mystical order dedicated to preserving peace and justice, using the deep powers of the universe, the Living Soul of All Being, you could say; we could do incredible things, impossible things, even, except save people from death. Though some tried. Some were seduced to use those powers for selfish ends and became evil, but most of us used them for good. I think that your druids here in Historica might be the same as, or at least very similar to, the Druidi Order of which I was, or perhaps still am, a member. When a member of the Druidi Order died, typically he would be cremated, but some learned how to just...disappear, become one with the Soul of Being, just like your druids did long ago."

Galaria turned to Henjin. "So...are you saying that you are a druid?"

"I think so," said Henjin. "I am, and my brother is, too. That is how we have such quick reflexes to catch arrows, and do other impossible things."

"But you could not save Ankeria after your brother shot her."

"No, sadly, her soul had already gone to the Halls of Waiting, and I have not the power to recall anyone thence."

"I see."

A moment of silence passed as they looked out at the wind rustling the reeds on the shore of the lake. Somewhere far off a bird sang a song of evening. Galaria looked up, her eyes narrowing as she gazed at a dark speck just above the horizon, moving quickly across the setting sun.

"Come quickly now, Henjin Quilones, Knight of Stangraf and the first of the New Druidi Order of Historica; we must make haste. I have seen one of the Great Eagles of Hesperia winging his way swiftly through the heavens, and it was unmistakably Aeriglaaac and his rider, Celdrian, my father's most trusted messengers, whom he sent to the far east to learn of the tidings of war. That he flies so swift and sure to Istolia, where my father is visiting, is a sure sign that something is afoot. We must go thither more quickly than I had planned. We go tonight!

Thanks for looking! C&C welcome. It's not much to look at, but I needed a build to move the story forward a bit, as well as explain a few things. A few more small builds will be forthcoming in order to set up a Category C story arc.

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Nice little scene. The landscaping is wonderful. I really like the water effect and the flowers. The figs are great too and nice story.

Thanks! It was a bit of an experiment with different shapes and colors, so I am glad it worked.

13 hours ago, soccerkid6 said:

Quite a lovely little scene The 1x1 round plates for water are perfect here, and I really like the combination of lavender friends flowers on a sand green landscape

Thanks, SK! I like the technique for water, as it implies depth and lack of solidity at the same time; unfortunately this build maxes out my trans-blue plate and tile collection, so this is as big as it gets. And that color combo is one of my favorites, so it will probably re-appear in the future...

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pretty cool, HQ. I love how you managed to make the landscape so complete with such a small size! Lovely choice of colours too and nice to see your story progressing - you've managed to make me even more curious than I was before.. !

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Such a lovely vignette! The water is spectacular, and I love the choice of sand green with lavender flowers for the landscape.
The trees make a nice background for the scene as well, and the olive green reeds were a great touch.